Chronicles of Ael
by Hasvajhi
Summary: After his defeat, Axel wakes up - but in Radiant Garden, a few years after the Organization's defeat... and he has a heart. Some unorthodox pairings; Axel/Yuffie and Larxene/Cid, for example. Rated T for language, slight adult themes, and safety.
1. Emersum

Yay! Our very first Kingdom Hearts fic! Please R&R!

Please?

DISCLAMER: We do not own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, or wherever these characters come from. There. You happy?

B: Corrected some flaws that A messed up and changed some spelling. I hope its better :D! (My brother needs me to edit for voice. He couldn't act if his life depended on it ;P)

* * *

The first thing he felt was loss. Loss of a friend, loss of life, loss of hope.

But why would a Nobody feel loss?

Axel woke up, confused. He was lying on the streets of some strange city. It wasn't dark, like in the world that never was; no, it was bright outside, and the buildings, instead of brooding skyscrapers, were simple, two-story houses, crowded but comfortable.

Axel ignored all this. He could feel a pulse.

Ever since he had become a Nobody, he had not been able to feel the pulse of his heart. Day after day, week after week, month after month, Axel had hoped, against all reason, to find his heart back in his chest; for if his heart was there, he would seize to be a Nobody. He would be able to feel emotions; he would become a complete person once again! But no, every morning, he had woken up as a Nobody.

Now, lying on the streets of this strange new town, he could feel a pulse.

He remembered his fight alongside Sora. So like Roxas; all of his moves, his magics, even his special attacks were the same. Finally, near death, he had prepared himself to join Roxas.

But he hadn't. He had somehow ended up in this strange street. And-

"And you are?"

Axel looked up, to find a… rather attractive girl looking down at him. She had broad features, black hair, and a wide, welcoming grin. She helped him up as he scrambled for words.

"Lying on a street," he said. She giggled at his quip, stupid as it was. He felt nice.

"No, your name, silly. I'm Yuffie."

"I'm… Ael. Yeah, Ael." It was his pre-Organization, pre-Nobody name. He hated it, but he didn't know what else to say.

Yuffie gave him a funny look, but continued to talk. "So, are you new around here? You have a place to stay?"

"No, but –"

"Then you can come to our place! We always have room for one more!"

He didn't have time to protest. She grabbed him by his arm and swept him off into the city, heading to wherever her "place" was.

"Hey, is anybody home? I brought a new guy – Ael!"

"Ale? Where?!" The door burst open. A thirty-something blonde man stepped out, scanning the street. Axel sighed. This is why he hated his name.

"No, not _ale,_" Yuffie chided. The man looked disappointed. "This guy. His name is _Ael_! Go on, say hi."

"Uh, hi?"

Cid looked Axel over, and, apparently finding nothing wrong, drew back. "Well, nice to meet ya, kid. C'mon in, the water's fine!"

Cid went back inside, followed by Yuffie. She waved him in, so Axel followed.

It was a nice, cozy place, if a little small for Axel's taste. It had a few beds, some books scattered about, an old guy on the other side of the room, a big honking computer, and…

Larxene.

Sitting at the computer, wearing a tank top and shorts. _Larxene._

"Wait is that... Larxene?!"

Larxene turned around and saw Axel, an expression of shock crossing her face. It went right past Yuffie; however, the old man managed to catch it.

"Leena! Do you know this man? Perhaps he can help you to remember your past!" said the old man. He wore long flowing robes and had an enormous white beard.

"Yeah, Merlin," Larxene stuttered, "I think I know him, uh-huh. Look, could we just step outside and talk for a moment?"

"I guess so, honey" Cid said. "Just be quick; Tron and his boys won't wait all day!"

Once they were suitably far outside of the little house, Larxene – Leena? – pinned Axel against the nearest wall.

"Don't. Ever. Mention. Organization. XIII. To. These. People."

"Sure, sure, if you say so," said Axel, his sarcasm beginning to return, even through his ever-present surprise. "But, why shouldn't I? And why the heck are you still alive?"

"No idea. But I'm not gonna let you slip up and ruin the life I've built up with Cid!"

"What? Him?!"

"Not the old guy! Cid's only 32. And," she said, adopting a look Axel had never before seen, "he's quite the man after the lights go out, if you know what I mean."

"Now I only wonder what happened to the real Larxene. You got any ideas?"

She chuckled at that. "Well, I get that a lot nowadays," she said, mystifying Axel further. "But, anyway, down to business."

She stepped forward, grabbing the underside of his wrist. He was about to retreat when he realized she was checking for a pulse. She found one.

"You, too, huh?"

"Yeah, I got my heart back. As far as I'm concerned, the question's how?"

"Not quite sure," Larxene said thoughtfully. "Merlin said something about how, if a person's Nobody and Heartless are both defeated, they will eventually find each other and remake the person."

"Okay, then. You pull me out of the building to lecture me about not revealing our origins, even though you already did? "

"I didn't!" she hissed. "All I said was that I used to be a Nobody, and that was by mistake. You such an idiot– these people used to _hunt_ the Organization! If they found out we used to be members of it, who knows what they'd do? They might kill us! And my life with Cid would certainly be ruined." Again, that indefinable look passed over Larxene's face.

"Oookay, then. Uh, one last question, Larxene; what did you mean by 'I get that a lot?'"

"Other former Organization members have been popping up all around town within the last few weeks," She replied. Talking over Axel's surprise, Larxene said, "For instance, Marluxia is running a flower shop in the town square and Vexen is helping us with the town defense system. I don't suggest you introduce yourself to either of them, for obvious reasons.

"Oh, and don't call me Larxene. People might catch on. It's Leena. Say it with me. _Leena._"

"Leeeenaa. Got it." Axel scratched behind his head. "So, uh, do you suppose I could crash here until I find my own place?"

"For a week. Maybe. Cid and I are trying to move everyone out of that house; we want to make it into our own little love nest."

Axel winced at her word choice. If Larxene – no, Leena – was anything like the Savage Nymph he remembered, he honestly pitied this Cid guy. But he didn't seem like the kind of guy who would listen to him anyway. Oh well.


	2. Magnoliophyta

B: Chapter 2! :D

A: Please Read & Review, people!

* * *

It was later that night. Axel – no, his name was Ael, again – should have been sleeping. He wasn't. Instead, he was restlessly prowling the streets, hoping that walking would put his mind to rest. A bit like his childhood, really…

A metal pipe narrowly missed his head, smashing into a nearby light post. Ael rolled backwards, just in time to see Zexion – of all people! – raising the rod for another blow. He desperately tried to summon his chakram to protect himself from the blow, but no luck there. Same thing with the fire he had tossed so often when in the Organization. He managed to dodge in time; the pipe struck the ground so hard that the tip broke off.

"Whoa there – you coulda' hurt me with that one!" Ael quipped.

"That's the intention, you thieving bastard!" Zexion shouted

"Ienzo, enough!"

Another surprise – Marluxia had emerged from what Ael belatedly realized was a flower shop, stabbing his scythe into the ground between them.

"Damnit, Alimaru, don't stop me from teaching him a lesson! And it's Zeino now!"

"I'm sorry, Zeino. But you shouldn't go after every person with spiky red hair that you see."

"I _will_ find him, and I _will _get my revenge!"

As "Zeino" fled, Ael noticed something was off about the scythe; though Marluxia looked as fruity as ever, his scythe, upon closer examination, appeared to have flaws. The blade wasn't as sharp as it usually was, for instance, and, and the paint job wasn't all that good. In fact, it appeared downright shoddy when compared to what Ael had seen Marluxia swinging around back in Castle Oblivion. He decided that Marluxia, too, couldn't draw upon his old weapons, and had made this cheap scythe to try and compensate.

"Glad _you_ recognized me, Marluxia – no, Alymaro, right?"

"Al_i_mar_u_, and you're not who Zexion's looking for." Alimaru helped Ael up.

"Thing is, Zexion got mugged by a guy the other day – spiky red hair, like you, but taller and a bit darker. Thing is, he got punched in the eye, so he can't see that great – and he thinks every redhead he sees is the mugger."

"Ah. That's… really great. Look, could I duck into your shop for a second?"

"Certainly. Here, I'll open the door."

When they entered the building, Ael had to admit he was impressed. Though the space was quite large, Alimaru had filled the entire thing, wall to wall, with flowers. It looked almost as if the space was really an indoor garden, with a few narrow trenches dug to allow people to walk through. The scent, however, was overpoweringly beautiful, enough to make one's eyes water after a few minutes. But, speaking of beautiful…

"Hey, Ali," Ael called, causing Alimaru's head to pop up out of a flowerbed across the room. "Uhm… have you seen a girl around here? Black hair, sorta short, carries ninja stars, talks a lot?"

Alimaru cracked up, much to Ael's discomfiture. "Fallen that fast, eh? I think you just beat Leena's record!"

"Wait, uh, no! You have all wrong…"

"Yuffie _is_ single, just in case you were wondering. Now, let me see…"

"…no, well, I mean, I _do_ like her, but…"

"…throw a few roses in there, and I heard her mention she likes lilies, so we'll add a few of those, too…"

"…but, you know, I don't know if _she_ likes _me_. And, well…"

"Here, a hand-picked bouquet for your ninja lady friend. That will be 250 munny." Alimaru pressed the bunch of flowers into Ael's hands. He started to protest, but then sagged in defeat.

"But… but… I don't have any munny on me."

"That's perfectly fine. I'll keep them here until you can afford them."

Ael couldn't leave the shop fast enough.

"Something about this town," Alimaru said to himself, as he went back to tending his flowers, "seems to excite the heart. I wonder, what is it?"


	3. Incendia Somnium quod Vesica

B: This is the next installment to the Chronicles. I hope it pleases :D These are a bunch of oneshots to bridge between the last one and the next one.

* * *

"Alright, young Ael. Today, we will begin to learn about the intricacies of Fire-type magic, but first, you must learn the history of this type of magic. You see, the earliest records of Fire magic appear in the annals of…"

Tilting his head backwards, Ael started to drift off.

"…by the year 385 B.X.H. (that stands for 'Before Xehanort's Heartless', in case you had forgotten), King Mortimer IV Mouse had come to the throne of Disney Castle. Mortimer IV was a legendary scholar and magician, who was said to have mastered all forms of Gravity-type magic by the age of 12…"

Unaware, he began to quietly snore.

"…and so, here we are. It's now time to begin the actual practice of Fire magic! So, Ael, let us start with the most basic Fire-type spell… Ael? Ael?"

"I was paying attention!" Ael said as he woke up. He had fallen asleep standing up.

"Good, good," Merlin responded absentmindedly. "Now, to cast a basic Fire spell, you wave your hand like _this_ and say, 'Fire'!"

A small spark leaped from Merlin's wand and fizzled out on the wall. Ael looked at it mournfully; if that was all that _Merlin_ could do, than he would never be able to light entire rooms on fire again.

"Let's do it together, shall we? On three! One, two, three! Fi –"

"_FIRAJA!!_"

The town square burst into flame.

Merlin panicked, slinging Blizzagas in every direction at fires that somehow managed to burn on raw stone. Ael let them burn for a short while longer, until Merlin's spells finally overwhelmed them.

"Fira_ja_?! How fascinating! I did not know that Firaja still existed! I mean, I _have _read of Mortimer IV himself casting it, but…"

Ael was too busy yelling "HELL YEAH!!" into the sky to pay attention to whatever Merlin was saying.

* * *

_Ael had finally managed to ask Yuffie out!_

He was ecstatic. After muddling around Radiant Garden for weeks, trying desperately to muster enough courage, Ael had asked her out. In a few days, he would take her on a stroll through town and later have a meal under the moonlight. How could it go wrong?

Many ways.

_He dreamt that he snagged his pants, tripped, and ripped them open._

_He dreamt that he accidentally set the flowers on fire._

_He dreamt that it started to hail on top of them._

_He dreamt that he accidentally set the food on fire._

_He dreamt Larxene and Cid were in the same restaurant, making lovers' talk._

_He dreamt that he accidentally set himself on fire._

_He dreamt that Yuffie had mixed up her schedule, and she dropped the date for a hair appointment._

_He dreamt that he accidentally set Yuffie on fire. _

Ael woke up with a start. "That…" he said to himself, " was one hell of a nightmare."

* * *

Zeino had his now-broken metal pipe. Leena had some knifes that Cid was making for her, oblivious of the fact that she used to use kunai while in the Organization. Alimaru had his handmade scythe, the cheap knock-off that it was of the original. Even Vexen, working on the computer up at the castle under the pseudonym of Vene, had somehow managed to procure a large, blue shield much like the one he used to wield at Castle Oblivion.

Ael had no weapon.

He had planned to change that.

For several days, Ael had been gathering scrap metal from the remodeling of the Castle. He had studied Merlin's books on weaponry, went through his old combat forms, and even set some steel on fire to see if it burned. Finally, he had finished them – _his trademark chakram had been rebuilt_!

Ael was in the bailey outside of the castle, where the Gullwings had helped him clear a practice area. He began by adopting his old fighting stance; one chakram clasped in his left hand, the other hanging from his right. The weapons were made mostly of metal that was melted together, with handles of wood sporting red and white flames carved and painted into them.

Taking a deep breath, he swung one chakram to the right and threw the other into the air. As it spun, he ducked down and practiced a low swingkick before jumping up, grabbing the weapon from the air, and swinging it downwards on his invisible enemy. Then he threw one at his unseen foe, it of course passing through the illusion and lodging itself into a wall. He retrieved it with a bright tongue of fire, causing it to arc into his hands.

Then he realized he had lit the handle on fire. He looked down as the paint burned away and stopped the flames with a sigh.

"Ah, crap. Well that didn't work," he mumbled. "Looks like it's back to the drawing boards."

* * *

B: This one was kinda quick and short but the next ones are gonna be longer, trust me. Please Read and Review!

PS. Firaja is from the first FF for those who dont know. It's the strongest form of fire.


	4. Intermission: Calcolatori ed Aziende

A: Sorry about the serious lack of updates. School started, and it is hell. Add this to the fact that I didn't have much planned out in the way of plot, and you get "All work and no updates makes Hasvajhi not as good a fanfic writer".

However, I picked up a copy of Final Fantasy VII the other day. Now, I have a plan.

Sorry about the bizzare shortness of this segment, I don't have enough time to do anything else. However, I AM working on the next, full-length installment of these Chronicles right now, so you can expect it uploaded... sometime.

* * *

Tron was doing the things he enjoyed most – policing the Radiant Garden computer, eliminating bugs, repairing broken code, killing the few remaining Heartless in the system, and otherwise keeping the world a safe place. But he was on to something; it looked like someone was trying to access the system using an outdated password of some sort. Tron teleported over to see what exactly what was going on.

Then he panicked.

This strange User had opened up some sort of word document, typing in layers of code. Normally, Tron wouldn't have cared; what could the User possibly do with the code? There was no way he could enter it into the system.

It was the subject heading that scared Tron. It was the subject heading that convinced him of the anonymous User's intentions.

He teleported again, but this time to the pit cell, frantically trying to contact the Users he knew and trusted.

"Warning! Users, they have come back! They are returning! Shi –"

He was de-rezzed before he could finish typing.

* * *

B: Thank you everyone who reviewed! All two of you! You're awesome! If you also wanna be cool, review too!

We plan to add in a new character, an OC (Original Character) of my creation. Just mixing the pattern up a bit. The way this will work is we will split the story into sections, alternating between the 3rd person Ael story, and a 1st person view of the new character. Hope to update soon!

PS: Tron is NOT swearing at the end ok?


	5. Stipatores

A: I finally managed to get this thing up. Thanks to lobbying from several special interest groups (i. e. my sister), B is pitching in directly as well, writing from the viewpoint of a new OC, Lexyis. Enjoy the new chapter!

* * *

Space Paranoids was actually kinda beautiful, when you got right down to it.

Ael was searching through the old data hidden within Ansem's old computer; ostensibly, he was hunting the heartless left over from the Master Control Program's time of control, but what he was really doing was searching for evidence of Nobodies turning back into heartless. Tron had custom-designed his avatar, and it was awesome: digitized shoulder spikes, long flowing cape, detailed black gauntlets, the works. He was even given a sleek, powerful hoverbike, which he was riding down the data paths on. It made him shiver just to think of it.

A Magnum Loader Heartless, resembling a red unicycle with a pair of arms, a head, and a bad attitude, came barreling down the roadway towards Ael.

He killed it with one slash of his chakram.

_The thing is_, Ael thought, absentmindedly wiping his chakram off, _if I've come back, and so has Larxene, what about the other members of Organization XIII? Demyx is in no way a threat, and probably Saix isn't as well, given all his bellyaching about "Where is my heart?"and "I need my emotions back". But, Luxord; now there's an opportunity for mischief and mass chaos. And of course we have the looming threat of Papa Xemnas's return…_

A humanoid Strafer heartless appeared on the road, intent on obtaining the heart of whoever was approaching.

The hoverbike smashed right through the Strafer, hardly showing any signs of impact. Ael hadn't even drawn his weapons.

Finally, he arrived at the Data Banks; a series of huge, rectangular buildings stretching as far as the eye could see. This was the repository of all of Ansem's collected research; it was here that he might find some evidence of nobodies getting their hearts back. But before he could peruse the files, an alarm went off.

"WARNING ALL USERS! PLEASE DEPART THE DATASPACE IMMEDIATELY!"

Curious, Ael went to a nearby terminal and reentered the real world.

The sight that greeted him shocked him greatly.

Radiant Garden was under attack.

By two different forces.

And the automated defense system was only attacking the locals.

* * *

Lexy looked up at the towering processing plant in front of her. This was all she had; there was only her simple apartment and her lowly job. But she didn't mind.

As she walked up the steps to the plant she was immediately stopped my two masses of pale blue uniform. She looked up to see two men towering above her.

"Can I help you?" she asked, her voice unfaltering.

"Yeh," the first man slurred.

"Give us yer cash and you can pass." The second man turned and spat onto the pavement. Levy winced. She tried to muscle her way past them, but to no avail. One man reached down towards her.

Jumping back quickly, Lexy swung her foot which met the man's jaw with the crack. The second just stared in disbelief, frozen in awe for just enough time that she could slip past and start a long day of work.

As usual, she was late. It was only by a few minutes, but it always pulled a bit of cash off her rare paycheck.

"Lexyis, there you are."

Lexy looked up, immediately stiffening. It was her boss, and behind him were the two men. One had a practically black and blue jaw and the other was sobbing for him.

"Pathetic," she muttered.

"Look, Lexy, I can't have you going around and hurting my employees. I'm so sorry."

Her eyes got wide. "No you can't—"

"I've made my decision. This is your last day, and I'll give you your paycheck when you leave, but this is your last day there."

"What about a night shift? Surely no real—" she shot a look at the men "—troublemakers will be on that!"

"I guess so for tonight, but you're still fired. There's no way out of it," her boss said.

Shocked, Lexy started to shout, "I can't be fired! I can't even pay the rental on my apartment right now! How the hell am I supposed to live in Midgar without a place to— You don't care, do you? You have no real feelings for your employees! Crude old bastard! I oughta—"

Lexy continued to yell as the men dragged her over to her post and dropped her in front of it. She gritted her teeth, resisting wanting to pull her weapon, and, with a red face and blazing eyes, she started to work on her last day in the factory.

* * *

The plant looked so peaceful at night. There were no loud yells, no smashing against walls. Just pure, quiet peace.

Lexy enjoyed it until she found herself looking down on her station which was running away. She realized that some large black man had just grabbed her up and slung her over his shoulder. Several others were running with them: two nondescript guys, a girl with orange hair, and a woman wearing a full suit of armour.

"Let me go let me go!" she screamed, kicking and pounding on him with her fists. The other people around him gave Lexy odd looks as they exited the factory. "What the hell are you—"

The factory exploded behind her and she winced. Once they were at a safe distance the black man dropped her roughly on the ground. She looked up at him icily.

She said darkly, "You are going to tell me what the hell is going on, and skip the propaganda."

* * *

A: If you're confused, don't worry, all will become clear in a little while.

B: Thanks to everyone who reviewed! From now on...

**ALL NEW REVIEWERS WILL BE SENT FREE COOKIES!!**

Or not. We don't have enough cookies to send them out. Sorry.


	6. Pugnae

A: Urrgh. Not only has my main typing computer suddenly failed on me, but I have a head cold ferocious enough to kill a rabid tiger. I'll try to get more of the stuff up, but I dunno how far I'll get. Ah well. Enjoy everything I managed to get up!

* * *

Ael dashed through the crowded streets, madly waving his chakram to keep the hordes of Heartless away from him. Some of them bore the heart symbol, while others carried characters that that looked oddly familiar, but all of them seemed intent on destroying him. It made him concerned about the innocent civilians of Radiant Garden.

He shouldn't have worried. The people in this town were tough.

As Ael dashed down the streets, he found that everyone, former Nobody or not, was giving as good as they got. Marluxia was proving that his scythe, despite looking shoddy, was as deadly as the original, the weapon shop owner was tossing shields like frisbees, Merlin was casting spells that Ael had never heard of, Zenio was swinging his pipe with a vengeance (one swing narrowly missed Ael's head, but he chalked that up to bad aim). Even Scrooge MacDuck, the old tycoon, had obtained a mallet from an undisclosed location and was whacking gamely away.

But the question weighed on his mind: who was controlling these Heartless, and why were they attacking his new home?

Finally, he spotted a promising lead; a tall, bald man in a navy suit, leading a few Heartless down a hallway. Ael began to charge towards him, but then he saw the man's face.

"Rude?!" Ael gasped.

The man spun around, startled by the voice of a man he had thought was dead.

"Reno!" the man exclaimed.

* * *

_Lexy stood among a group of deadly-looking warriors, looking off the edge of a cliff. _

_Beyond the cliff stood a god. _

_It was brown, twisted, and huge almost beyond imagining; she could only see its upper body, but even that was as larger than a mountain. Instead of a head, it had a giant black helmet with horns larger than the cliff they were standing on jutting out of each side. _

"_What do you wish of me, my children?" the god asked, in a voice gentle, yet terrifying._

_A man with a long, red mane stepped forward. "Who are you, and why did you destroy Midgar?"_

"_My name is Chaos, little one," said the god, flexing its impossible taloned fingers, "and I wish to end all things."_

Lexy woke with a start, panting. "What the hell kinda dream was that?!

The other people in the room sat up and stared at her. She quickly took in her surroundings and started to scream, "WHERE THE HELL AM I?!"

"Calm down," the woman in armour said, leaning against a wall. "Panic is not going to get you anywhere."

"Well, she does deserve ta know," the big black man exclaimed, waving his gun-arm – how the hell had she managed not to notice that? "Ma name's Barret, an' this is Jessie, Biggs, Wedge, and Celes. We're all members o' AVALANCHE – "

"YOU are all members of AVALANCHE," the woman stated. "I am here for the money."

"We know ya are, Celes. Anyways, _most_ of us are members o' AVALANCHE, and this what we do…"

* * *

B: There will be an info dump later on for those of you who have no idea what's going on.

A: All male reviewers will be kissed by B!

B: Hey!!


End file.
